Sweet Potato Souffle

Sweet potato Soufflé

4 medium sweet potatoes            

5 beaten egg yolks

¼ c melted butter

1 c half and half

1 c brown sugar

¼ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp nutmeg

5 egg whites

¼ c melted butter

Pecan halves

Cut sweet potatoes into chunks, place in microwave safe dish with water, cover, and microwave until very tender.  Remove skins when cool enough to handle.  Beat potatoes together with egg yolks, ¼ c butter, half and half, brown sugar, cloves and nutmeg until smooth.  In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.  Fold egg whites into potato mixture.  Pour into casserole dish.  Top with melted butter and pecan halves. 

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until bubbly and crusty on edges.

La-la-la-lasagna!

Here's a recipe for my mama's lasagna.  I had the missionaries tell me once they'd heard I made a famous lasagna and would like me to make it again.  So, it's pretty good. :)

Lasagna

1 lb ground beef

1 lb jimmy dean sausage

1 to 1 1/2 onion diced

2 lb mushrooms sliced

1 tbl garlic minced (4-5 cloves)

1 tbl basil

1 tbl 1 tsp oregano

1 tsp marjoram

1 ½ tsp parsley

1 bay leaf

3 29 oz cans tomato sauce

1-2 boxes frozen spinach

1 large container ricotta cheese

2-3 lb mozzarella cheese shredded or sliced

1-2 c shredded parmesan cheese

1-2 boxes lasagna noodles

In large pot, sauté onions in a little olive oil until translucent.  Add garlic, sauté for another minute or two then add mushrooms and cook until most of the liquid evaporates.  Remove from pot and add ground beef, and brown.  Remove from pot and drain while you brown the sausage, also draining sausage after it is cooked.  Return everything to pot (or crock pot, I usually put the sauce in there and let it simmer most of the day), add spices and tomato sauce and let everything simmer for a while.

Thaw spinach and squeeze as much moisture as you can out.  Mix with ricotta cheese until well blended.  Cook noodles as directed on package.  In large lasagna pan (this recipe is for my pan, it’s like 10x13 and 4 or 5 inches deep; you could also make two smaller pans with this recipe, but you will need two boxes of noodles) spread a small amount of sauce in the bottom.  Layer noodles on top, spread about 1/3 of ricotta mixture on top, top with generous amount of both cheeses and the cover with sauce.  Layer more noodles and repeat until pan is full.  On top layer of noodles, cover with sauce and then shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 covered for about 45 minutes (or until hot through), then uncover and continue baking until cheese is melted and golden on the edges.

Zucchini Bread

My mom's famous zucchini bread.  It's awesome!

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

2 c sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp vanilla

1 c oil

2 ½ c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 walnuts, optional

Sift dry ingredients together.  Beat together eggs and sugar.  Then add oil and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients and zucchini and nuts.  Bake at 325 for 40 minutes for a small loaf or 55 minutes for a large loaf.  

This recipe also makes good muffins.

Cheese cake

Hmmmm... Almost two years since I've posted anything.  That's pretty pathetic.  Oh, well.  My brother called me to get this recipe today, and since I had to type it out I figured I would post it so I don't have to type it next time :)  This is my great-grandmother's recipe.  It's the only one my dad and at least one of my brother will actually eat. It's awesome.


Crust:

12 graham crackers
3 tbl sugar
3/4 cube melted butter (6 tbl)


Pie filling:

12 oz cream cheese
4 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla


Topping:

1 small carton sour cream (8 oz or 1 cup)
3 tbl sugar
1 tsp vanilla


Crust: Crush crackers finely.  Add sugar and butter, stir well.  Line spring-form pan with mixture pressing into bottom and sides.  Filling: Soften cream cheese then beat with mixer until smooth.  Add eggs, sugar, and vanilla.  Pour into crust.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Cool for 15 minutes.  Topping:  while cake is cooling, mix together sour cream, sugar and vanilla.  Pour over cake then return to oven.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Cool and let stand in refrigerator over night.


It's hard to convert old recipes sometime because things aren't available in the same sizes.  Like the cream cheese it calls for is actually 4 3oz packages.  You don't see 3 oz packages very often now; they're usually 8 ounces.  The same for the sour cream.  It's actually one cup of sour cream, but my grocery store doesn't sell anything less than 16 ounces.  Go figure.

Pumpkin Pie

So I haven't been cooking too much lately. With the baby penguin taking up time and my oldest penguin looking at every thing I've made (or even just the ingredients) and yelling "Yucky!" I have had little inclination to cook. But it's Thanksgiving time and my favorite pie recipe was needing to be shared. That and my mom can't find her copy of this recipe and called me to email it to her, so I had to type it up anyway.


4 eggs slightly beaten
1 29 oz of pumpkin
1 1/2 c sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 c heavy whipping cream
1/2 c light whipping cream
1 1/2 c sour cream


Whip creams together until slightly thickened. In another bowl combine eggs, pumpkin, sugar and spices. Mix in cream mixture. Pour into unbaked pie crust and cook at 425 for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 and cook for 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on rack. Make two pies-one large and one small.


You can use any crust recipe for this pie. I have a good one I'll try to post later. I hear a penguin crying, so I must run.

Chicken Florentine

Another recipe from my mother. She loves this one, because you can actually make the whole thing in the microwave with leftover chicken. I love to buy a rotisserie chicken from Costco and then use the leftovers to make this.


1 package frozen spinach
2 tbl chopped onion
1 c chopped cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbl vinegar
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 tbl butter
1/4 - 1/2 c bread crumbs



Cook onions in a small amount of oil. Mix in spinach and chicken. Remove 1 tablespoon broth and replace with 1 tablespoon vinegar (this is a wine substitute: you could also use wine, but I don't) Mix soup, cheese and 2-3 tbl of chicken broth mixture. If you are using the microwave, heat this until cheese is melted. Stir sauce into chicken mixture. Melt butter and mix in bread crumbs. Cook in microwave about 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Top chicken/sauce mixture with bread crumbs. Heat in microwave until hot through. Or cook at 350 until bubbly.


I usually use the oven, just because I am not a fan of food cooked in the microwave. But it still tastes fine when my mother makes it in the microwave. And it's faster. And although my friends I made it for loved it, my little penguins refused to eat it,

Meatloaf

I always loved when my mother made meatloaf when I was growing up, mostly likely because she covered the top in cheese. And I have always loved baked cheese. I think my mother wasn't a fan of traditional meatloaf, so she added several things to lighten it up. She would also sometimes hard boil eggs and place them in the middle of it. I, of course, am never this on top of things and always forget to boil the eggs. However, this week I had some extra turkey lying around (or taking up space in my freezer) and I thought it would be an easy meal to make. I haven't been cooking much lately. The baby penguin doesn't nap much during the day and by the end of a day of refereeing the two older ones and walking while patting the baby, I just don't have much energy or enough hands to cook. So meatloaf it was.



1 1/2 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1 egg
1 scant cup oatmeal
1 small can tomato sauce
1 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 c grated cheese

Beat egg in medium bowl. Add ground meat, oatmeal, Worcestershire sauce, spices, 1/2 c grated cheese and tomato sauce minus 2 tbl and combine. Place in loaf pan and top with reserved tomato sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.


I loved it. My husband loved it. The older penguin took one look at it and said, "Nasty!" But don't take that opinion for too much; every thing I've made in the last three weeks has elicited that comment or "gross-y." It's amazing he's still alive with how little he eats at dinner.